HBO Max has begun spreading its wings outside of the US, and is now available in 39 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean. Come October, it will be available in six European countries, followed by 14 more European countries in early 2022. And then, finally, there is expectation that HBO Max will roll into India and other Asian countries by May 2022.
Buzz about the platform has risen to a crescendo in India recently, ever since last week’s leak of tentative HBO Max subscription plans for India. The plans are still at a testing stage, and an HBO Max spokesperson has clarified the same in a statement shared with Binged. You can read about the proposed subscription plans and HBO Max’s official statement here.
Now that we have an idea about what HBO Max subscriptions are likely to cost in India, the next most important question is what content will HBO Max offer.
Read on to know the content HBO Max will most probably offer in India.
HBO Max has a large and varied content library, owing to its parent companies, HBO and WarnerMedia. As a result, subscribers have access to huge catalogues of HBO and Warner Bros., along with content from platforms partly owned by WarnerMedia. Besides that, the streamer has licensed content from content companies such as Studio Ghibli, and such-like.
Just like Disney Plus Hotstar has tabs at the bottom of the home page that categorise the content into Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, etc, HBO Max has what it likes to call “Hubs”. These hubs separate the entire content into different categories, which allows one to quickly browse and find the content you want to watch. The different content categories that may be offered by HBO Max in India are as follows –
HBO –
HBO has a legacy of fifty years of high quality content, and a lot of it is available on HBO Max, including shows such as Game Of Thrones, The Sopranos, The Wire, along with newer shows such as Westworld, Chernobyl and Watchmen. Besides these, HBO Max will also host tons of other titles such as The Big Bang Theory, Friends, Harry Potter series, Lord Of The Rings series, The Matrix series, among others.
Max Originals –
Consists of HBO Max originals. The list is limited as of now, but the streamer is adding new original content at an aggressive rate. Some of the Max Originals are The Flight Attendant, Hacks, Raised By Wolves, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, among others. Other than that, HBO Max has the entire slate of new tent-pole Warner Bros. films of 2021 releasing simultaneously in theatres and on its platform. Wonder Woman 1984, Godzilla Vs Kong, Mortal Kombat, The Suicide Squad etc. have already released. Dune, The Many Saints of Newark,
King Richard, Cry Macho, Matrix 4 are some of the films to release yet. Besides these, HBO Max plans to produce ten or so films every year for exclusive streaming on its platform, a la Netflix.
Indian Originals –
Yes, HBO Max has promised to source local content in the country that will be conceived and created in India, just like Amazon Prime Video India Originals and Netflix India Originals. No show or film has been finalised yet, though there is word that stars such as Saif Ali Khan, Alia Bhatt and Anil Kapoor, and directors such as Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bharadwaj will be on board.
DC –
Consists of DC Comics titles, old ones as well as a huge number of upcoming titles. Besides existing titles such as Birds Of Prey, The Batman, Doom Patrol, Harley Quinn, Titans, etc, upcoming titles such as Green Lantern, The Batman prequel, Peacemaker, DMZ, Madame X, Justice League Dark, Constantine, Aquaman: King of Atlantis, the upcoming Batgirl movie, and lots more. Just like Disney Plus Hotstar has planned an entire Marvel TV series universe, HBO Max has big plans to leverage its DC property.
The CW –
A sizeable number of current CW shows such as Superman & Lois, Supergirl, Batwoman, Nancy Drew, Stargirl, as well as upcoming ones such as Powerpuff, Naomi, The Girls On The Bus, etc
Turner Classic Movies (TMC) –
A huge back catalogue of the best classic movies of all time. The list of movies includes Warner Bros. films as well as films licensed from other studios such as Universal Studios, Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, etc. TMC boasts one of the most dazzling collections of films among all the platforms.
Cartoon Network –
Indian viewers are well-versed with Cartoon Network shows. Includes the libraries of Warner Bros. (Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (Tom and Jerry), Hanna-Barbera (The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, Snorks), and shows such as Ben 10, The Powerpuff Girls, Dexter’s Laboratory, among others. Loony Tunes may be available under a separate hub as it is in the US.
Adult Swim –
Streams some of the most popular adult animation shows such as Rick And Morty, Robot Chicken, Family Guy, The Boondocks, Demon Slayer, and yes, Attack On Titan!
Crunchyroll –
One of the best platforms to watch the best of authentic Japanese anime. HBO Max offers around 20-30 curated titles from the Crunchyroll catalogue, and not all. Bungo Stray Dogs, Berserk, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Kill la Kill, Your Lie in April, ERASED, Kiznaiver, Schwarzes Marken, 91 Days, The Testament of Sister New Devil, Death Note are some of the titles available.
Studio Ghibli –
HBO Max in the US also offers the Studio Ghibli catalogue of animated titles. However, HBO Max in India will not offer Studio Ghibli titles as Netflix holds exclusive rights to its catalogue for the rest of the world, outside of the US, Canada and Japan.
Criterion Collection –
A curated collection of films from the Criterion Collection, which has a library of international films that are deemed classic. It includes films from François Truffaut, Godard, Eric Rohmer, Fassbinder, Fellini, Antonioni, Kurosawa, Ingmar Bergman, The Coen Brothers, and several other maestros. And God Created Woman, 16 Days of Glory, 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her, The 3 Penny Opera, The 39 Steps, Battleship Potemkin, City Lights, The Immigrant, In the Mood for Love – 300+ all-time great classic movies. However, HBO Max may not offer the Criterion Collection in India, due to lower interest among regular subscribers, and its aim to of provide subscription at cheaper rates compared to its US counterpart.
While this is just a general idea of what is most likely to be available on HBO Max in India, the most important thing to note is that a huge number of the above-mentioned titles are licensed to third parties for India streaming at the moment. HBO shows are licensed to Disney Plus Hotstar. Rick And Morty, Friends, etc. are with Netflix. The CW shows such as Supergirl, Legends of Tomorrow, The Flash, etc are on Amazon Prime Video, Nancy Drew is with Voot Select, and similarly, lots of other content is licensed to various platforms in India.
These titles will continue to stream where they are at present, until the deals signed between the parties on both sides expires. It is obvious WarnerMedia and HBO will honour their deals and not yank off titles from the different platforms before they expire.
Also, HBO Max may not include certain Hubs such as Cartoon Network, as the channel is still available on broadcast TV in India. It may also not stream Crunchyroll, Criterion Collection, The CW, etc, to keep pricing on the lower side in India.
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